Unable to export large Sketchup file as OBJ

SketchUp
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1

Hi - I’d be really grateful for any help on this as it’s driving me mad…
I’ve just completed a design in Sketchup Pro 2022. It’s a very large file of 350MB. There are no unused components or detail that I can purge. I need to convert the file to OBJ and have tried several times to Export as OBJ but the computer just refuses (rainbow wheel spinning for 2 and a half hours without the export indicator seeming to move beyond about a third of the way).
If a sketchup file is too large to export, is there some workaround like converting outside of sketchup?
Any advice very much apreciated.
Thanks

2

Blender, 3ds Max, Rhino, Vectorworks, etc…

3

Hi, Thank for replying.

Yes - is there any way o converting outside sketchup? I tried a few of the online conversion sites but they say the file is too large or ‘ERROR’ comes up.
I’ll try again if you think there is one that will convert a file of this size?

4

The programs I indicated are not online converters.

5

I’ve just downloaded blender. Are you suggesting I import the sketchup file and export it as obj? If so I can’t see the option in ‘import’ to select .skp files. Sorry if I’m misunderstanding…

6

There is a plugin for blender that imports sketchup files. It works very well.

Another thing you can do is to split your file into several components and export each component to a single object. Maybe you should consider a plugin that allows every component in your model to have the origin at the origin of the model (CG Adjust-N-Export) and this could allow you to easily reassemble them in the final file.

7

Excellent - Thank you for your advice - I’ll give this a try!

8

Your file is so big that probably it needs to run overnight or longer. The export indicator is not reliable.

9

So you think there is a chance it could export overnight. If so I’ll leave it running…just assumed it was ‘stuck’.

Thanks

Incidentally I didn’t manage to upload to blender as suggested by a previous respondent - others have said that the plugin suggested doesn’t work on a mac.

10

Have you tried to reduce the number of polygons? The Skimp extension let you to simplify meshes. Also I remember it allows you to export to obj too

11

Thanks for your reply. I have just completed the task. I found a hidden line duplicated behind the edge of a component - I don’t know if it was a coincidence but when removed it exported in around 30 minutes. I was reluctant to reduce the umout of polygons due to trying to create a smooth surface.
Thanks for your help.